2024 warmest year in India since 1901, says IMD

The year 2024 was the warmest on record in India since 1901, with the average minimum temperature settling 0.90 degrees Celsius above the long-period average.

The annual mean land surface air temperature across India in 2024 was 0.65 degrees Celsius above the long-term average (1991-2020 period), Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director general of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), said at a virtual press briefing.

The year 2024 now ranks as the warmest year on record since 1901, surpassing 2016, which had recorded a mean land surface air temperature 0.54 degrees Celsius above normal.

According to the European climate agency Copernicus, 2024 likely ended as the warmest year on record and the first year with a global average temperature 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

A yearly review report by two groups of climate scientists — World Weather Attribution and Climate Central — said that the world experienced an average of 41 more days of dangerous heat in 2024.